HE SAID... Today we were travelling southwest from Plovdiv to Bansko. With a long trip to Bansko ahead, and a detour into a bear sanctuary on the way, we opted for an early breakfast in the tiny hotel dining area. I had muesli, yoghurt, prunes, toast, ham, cheese, fresh strawberry jam and tea. We checked out of our very comfortable hotel, threw our packs into the back of a minibus and made our way out of Plovdiv. It wasn’t long before we were driving along a bumpy potholed road that I think was a fairly major highway, with flat agricultural fields stretching to the Rhodope Mountains to the south. About 20 kilometres before Bansko we detoured up a steep and winding dirt track to the Belitsa Bear Sanctuary, otherwise known as the Dancing Bears Park. This ... read more

UNMIK, the UN Mission in Kosovo, runs these weekend tours to various places in the region. I signed up for the one for Bansko, Bulgaria - a ski resort town. I don't ski, but there is plenty of stuff to do in Bansko anyway. We left Pristina at around 3:50pm by bu s. I tried taking pictures of the beautiful mountains of Kosovo, but it was through the bus window so they're not very good. WEhad no problems on the border to Macedonia. However, on the border to Bulgaria, we wound up having to wait for a very long time to get through. It felt like hours, but I don't really know how long it was. Then it was snowing heavily, so we had to drive really slow. About 18 km away from Bansko, we became ... read more

So, I wound up having a nice day on Sunday. I was not perfectly better, but I was good enough to enjoy more of the city. I had coffee in the morning, and some bread, so not the sumptious breakfast of the previous day in an effort to help with my stomach complaint. It worked, so I went back to the main street and turned the opposite way than I had before. I saw many interesting shops, which I took pictures of, and did more shopping. However, when I got near the end of the street, I found a museum dedicated to a Bulgarian Renaissance thinker and an Orthodox church from the same time period. I went to the museum, and it was absolutely deserted except for me and the guy running it - it was ... read more

10th August Very peaceful nights sleep in the hotel in Xanthi. 4 of us made breakfast before 10 and were still eating when it closed at 10.30. Then we drove into and through Kavala and found a lovely beach - no wind today so the sea is unbelievably flat. Hot though - 30 something so the sea is refreshingly cool. Filled up with petrol before getting to the beach and the guy filling the tank graduated from Southampton the same year as Christopher. Nice beach, lovely warm sea, massive jellyfish :) just the one. Hopefully got some good pictures with the underwater camera. Should have brought the GoPro though as that takes good pictures underwater I believe. Next stop a bite to eat in a cool Taverna? We got back in the car and travelled a ... read more

27thJuly 2014 Today we are going to see the bears at the Dancing Bear Sanctuary near to Belitsa. Got up at a reasonable time and while the kids slept Catherine and I headed down to the local supermarket where we picked up a few fresh supplies – including a very interesting bread with cheese in it…. Looked a bit like Lardy bread… The kids woke in turns and struggled out of bed – showers for everyone – 2 bathrooms is great Paul. Both working fine. Then we headed out of Bansko on the Razlog road and stopped at Lidl for a few supplies. The local beer is 40p a litre – and when it’s cold it’s not bad. Picked up ham, after sun, cakes all sorts of stuff. We’ll be leaving some stuff behind in the ... read more

As Catherine un-folded it from her carry on bag! Uneventful trip to Heathrow Terminal 5 - taxi was 10 minutes early and as Mathew was still in the shower we left at 6.00 am. on the dot. Nice big van this time with space for all of us and our luggage - with the schools broken up traffic was very light until we reached the M25 - but we were still at Terminal 5 by about 6.30. We had checked in so dropped the bags and went through South security which was very straightforward. Wandered around for a bit as Terminal 5 does not have a priority pass lounge then sat at A6 while waiting for the gate to be called. A6 was called while we were waiting and was for Leeds Bradford... I mean really? ... read more

Bansko (Bulgarian: Банско) is a town and ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of Pirin at an altitude of 925 m above sea level. Bansko is the birthplace of 20th century Bulgarian poet Nikola Vaptsarov and Bulgarian enlighteners Paisiy Hilendarski and Neofit Rilski.... read more

One of Chris Alger's wily investments had seen him purchase a one bedroom apartment in the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko. So what better way to enjoy this than to cram six of us into the apartment for a 6 day skiing holiday - and as we drew straws for the beds, Chris ended up sharing a futon in the lounge of the apartment that he actually owned! Getting there had been the usual "no-queuing" affair that is always a regular feature with Alger Jnr at the helm. This time we were cutting it so fine to get to the airport that I had to stand in the doors of the airport bus stopping them from shutting to allow Steve to park the car and us to make our flight!! Arriving in Bulgaria the first battle ... read more

The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, b...more history